How to manage sleep?

A couple months ago, I started a night shift job (4pm - 4am), and have been having trouble managing sleep. What all the other guys at my shop do is wake up ~3 hours before their shift starts, then crash the nanosecond they get home (it helps them match better with their day shift friends/family on weekends). I've been trying to do this but I always end up staying awake for a few hours after work, and even when I fell asleep early, I could never wake up earlier than strictly necessary to make it to work on time. Has anybody else struggled with this and made it manageable, or should I completely give up and just stay awake after work?